A DUNFERMLINE Amazon worker is up for a top award for his part in helping create a Multibank to help local families in need.

Simon McMahon, who works as a senior programme manager at the West Fife fulfilment centre, has been shortlisted for a Retail Week Award for his innovative work establishing and expanding the initiative.

The first Multibank was founded last year by Amazon, former Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the Cottage Family Centre in Kirkcaldy.

It offers an emergency service for families fighting poverty by providing surplus essentials like nappies, toilet rolls, toothpaste and school uniforms donated by businesses, directly to those in need and in doing so, help to reduce waste.

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Simon has been instrumental in the launch and growth of the Multibanks in Fife and Wigan, which have now donated over 1.5 million essential goods to more than 150,000 families across Scotland and Greater Manchester.

Together with The Cottage Family Centre, he led a team to establish ‘The Big House’ in Fife, helping to set-up the warehouse operations with pro bono staffing from Amazon, operations advice and an initial cash grant to support the recruitment, salaries and training of the on-site staff.

Since then, Simon has also helped to grow the network of businesses donating surplus essentials to more than 30, including Amazon, Morrisons, PepsiCo, Heinz, Procter & Gamble, Tesco and Unilever.

He even developed an innovative “click and collect” system for donations, with a weekly inventory shared with teachers, community groups and care professionals so that they can order the exact products they know are needed.

In March, Simon supported the launch of a second Multibank, The Brick-by-Brick project in Wigan, in partnership with charity partner The Brick which had donated essential goods to more than 50,000 families in Greater Manchester by the end of the year. And in November, Amazon announced that together with Gordon Brown and Comic Relief, they will expand the Multibank initiative nationwide, to provide more than 500,000 families in need with basic essentials, donated from six multibanks by the end of 2024.

His efforts mean he is now in the running for a Distribution Hero Award at the Retail Week Awards, which have been celebrating excellence in the UK’s retail industry for nearly 30 years.

He will find out if he has been successful at a prestious awards ceremony in London in March.

Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown said: “Simon has been instrumental in establishing the path-breaking Multibank – a food bank, clothes bank, bedding bank, toiletries bank, furnishings bank and baby bank rolled into one.

"Thanks to him, the scheme has grown to ensure more than 1.5 million items have been delivered to thousands of families in need in Scotland and Manchester. My personal thanks go to him for his tireless efforts and hard work.”